Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Dana M. Britton / The literature on friendship and social networks finds that individuals form social ties with people who are like them; this is termed "homophily." Several researchers demonstrate that social networks and social ties are homophilous with regard to race and class, for example. However, few studies have explored the relationship of homophily to the social ties of lesbians, and fewer still have explicitly examined sexual orientation as a point of homophily. This study intends to help fill that gap by looking at homophily among lesbian social ties, as well as how urban and non-urban residency might shape homophily and lesbian social ties. I gathered data that would answer the following central research questions: Are lesbian social ties homophilous and if so around what common characteristics? What are lesbians' experiences with community resources and how does this influence their social ties? How does population influence lesbian social ties? Data for this research come from 544 responses to an internet survey that asked lesbians about their social ties, their interests and activities and those of their friends, and the cities or towns in which they resided. Using the concepts of status and value homophily, I attempt to make visible some of the factors and forces that shape social ties for lesbians.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Spencer D. Wood / It is the intention of this thesis to come to a better understanding of the factors that lead to food insecurity, a concept for understanding if people have enough food to eat. The tool for household measurement was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, and is the backbone of the Food Security Supplement, which is conducted annually as part of the Current Population Survey. Three literature are reviewed: concentration of markets, civic agriculture and localism, and food security and nutrition. Each approaches understanding food security from a different angle offering insights along with its shortcomings. Most US studies consider food insecurity as a contributing component of poor health. In this study, I ask instead, "What are the major predictors of household food insecurity?" Using data from the Food Security Supplement of the Current Population Survey from 2000 to 2007, I use descriptive statistics and logistic regression to investigate the causes of food insecurity. I show that as currently measured food insecurity is largely a function of economic inequalities. Within this broad finding, however, I also show that households in a principal city and nonmetropolitan counties are not more likely than other households to experience food insecurity even when controlling for economic and sociodemographic variables.

This dissertation addresses the problem of how, in a global future, humanity is to comprehend the singularity of the place, the biosphere it calls home. Will communities, nations, and the earth itself, for example, be regarded as ‘one’ place in which many live, or as the product of many separate, but linked compositional elements? The ‘many in the One’, or the “One in the many”? From the perspective of International Relations, in a global future will ‘integration’ at the individual level necessarily imply ‘homogenization’ at larger intercultural levels? Might the conditions of existence in a global future be understood rather as the universalization of certain key values and practices that respect the diversity of distinct regional differences? What spiritual or ethical ideas will serve as a unifying meta-narrative in a global age? These are questions of keen interest to those whose lives are touched in some way by the growing convergence of cultures, especially by the stream of classical East and South Asian wisdom paths now flowing into the West.

This dissertation addresses the problem of how, in a global future, humanity is to comprehend the singularity of the place, the biosphere it calls home. Will communities, nations, and the earth itself, for example, be regarded as ‘one’ place in which many live, or as the product of many separate, but linked compositional elements? The ‘many in the One’, or the “One in the many”? From the perspective of International Relations, in a global future will ‘integration’ at the individual level necessarily imply ‘homogenization’ at larger intercultural levels? Might the conditions of existence in a global future be understood rather as the universalization of certain key values and practices that respect the diversity of distinct regional differences? What spiritual or ethical ideas will serve as a unifying meta-narrative in a global age? These are questions of keen interest to those whose lives are touched in some way by the growing convergence of cultures, especially by the stream of classical East and South Asian wisdom paths now flowing into the West.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / This exploratory research project has utilized a mixed-method (Seiber 1973; Creswell 1994, 2005; Jick 1979; Dexter 1970) approach to examine why some NFL players participate in deviant, and sometimes law breaking, behavior and others do not. Using Dexter’s (1970) qualitative technique of elite and specialized interviewing along with Schatzman’s and Strauss’s (1973) naturalistic field method, access was gained into an exclusive group of current and former NFL players. The qualitative findings in conjunction with Durkheimian theory provided the conceptualization of a quantitative instrument. Through a nonprobability snowball sample (Babbie 1986; Berg 2001), 104 NFL players were interviewed. A series of quantitative analyses were run to describe and assess relationships within this study group. In essence, this study has entailed a series of steps that could be represented as a cumulative progression. From the qualitative data, the three core themes that emerged were (1) deviance, (2) anomie, and (3) social ties. Within the study group, a substantial number of players had prior experience with deviant and illegal behaviors. Many reported problems coping upon entering the NFL and sought to find personal fulfillment and happiness despite wealth and fame. It appeared that some level of anomie was present in a number of these players’ lives. However, players that had strong ties to various social groups appeared less likely to succumb to anomie and deviance. Supporting the qualitative data, the quantitative findings revealed that anomie was one of the significant predictors of law breaking players. It would therefore appear reasonable to suggest that some of the players were involved in behaviors that could be labeled anomic deviance. Furthermore, the findings supported the primacy of social ties/support in combating anomie and deviance in the lives of NFL players in the study group.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / L. Susan Williams / This study builds on a small but growing field of scholarship, arguing that certain nonnormative behavior is also non-negative, a concept referred to as positive deviance. This thesis examines positive behaviors, in the form of altruism, in the top 10 box-office animated movies of all time. Historically, studies focusing on negative, violent, and criminal behaviors garner much attention. Media violence is targeted as a cause for increasing violence, aggression, and antisocial behavior in youth; thousands of studies demonstrate that media violence especially influences children, a vulnerable group. Virtually no studies address the use of positive deviance in children’s movies. Using quantitative and ethnographic analysis, this paper yields three important findings. 1. Positive behaviors, in the form of altruism, are liberally displayed in children’s animated movies. 2. Altruism does not align perfectly with group loyalty. 3. Risk of life is used as a tool to portray altruism and is portrayed at critical, climactic, and memorable moments, specifically as movies draw to conclusion. Previous studies demonstrate that children are especially susceptible to both negativity and optimistic biases, underscoring the importance of messages portrayed in children’s movies. This study recommends that scholars and moviemakers consciously address the appearance and timing of positive deviance.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / W. Richard Goe / ABSTRACT This qualitative research study explores the cultural dissonance promoted in Indian tribal students by participation in the mainstream Indian educational system and the changes this has brought to their lives. Previous studies have tried to analyze the problem from four theoretical perspectives: biological interpretation, the socio-economic perspective, inter-colonization theory, and the cultural reproduction perspective. This study examines the applicability of these perspectives in analyzing the participation of Indian tribal students in the Indian education system. It attempts to identify elements that are incompatible with tribal culture, examine the difference in educational achievement between the tribal elites and their downtrodden counterparts, assess the social standing of the tribal graduates, and examine teachers’ conception of tribal students. The study used a non-experimental, cross-sectional research design with the main tools of data collection being observation and personal interviews. The study was conducted on the Santal, Birhor, Kharia and Lodha tribes located in Bankura, Birbhum, Puruliya, and Paschim Medinipur districts of the state of West Bengal in India. Personal interviews were conducted with tribal students, graduates, parents, teachers, and principals of tribal schools. The research revealed that the modern education system makes little attempt to address cultural specificities in designing education policies for tribal students which results in the development of a negative self-image. Moreover, although claimed to be free by the Indian government, achieving success in the education system involves subsidiary costs like private tution which represents an obstacle for poverty stricken tribal families. The problem is further complicated due to the unempathetic attitudes and beliefs of teachers and the ill-conceived developmental policies designed by educational planners that fail to incorporate curricular elements compatible with tribal culture.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Theresa L. Selfa / The informal sector in India, as in other developing countries, is a source of employment and livelihoods to an overwhelmingly large proportion of workers, both in rural and urban areas. The sector is very heterogeneous and consists of both traditional and modern activities which vary widely across regions and occupations. Although the urban informal sector has been widely studied, not much work has been done on the non-agricultural rural informal sector, which has witnessed significant growth over the last several decades. The present study explores the functioning of the rural informal sector in Bihar, one of the most populous and backward states of India with a high incidence of poverty and low human development indicators. Based on case studies of two sectors – textiles and food processing – and using both quantitative and qualitative data, this study profiles the nature and characteristics of the sectors, and examines the roles of social networks and institutions in its functioning. Drawing from the economic sociology literature, it tries to understand how social networking in the rural labor market can affect economic outcomes. The findings of the study indeed show that it is difficult to explain the functioning of the rural informal sector on the basis of neo-classical economic theory. The research findings illustrate a unique kind of social networking in the rural informal sector arising from caste and religion, which can be associated with the Granovetter’s embededness theory.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Dana M. Britton / Even after 28 years the AIDS epidemic continues to affect the American population and HIV/AIDS remains a social problem. Living with HIV affects every aspect of an individual’s life. It involves a personal negotiation at the onset of diagnosis, a social negotiation when one decides to disclose to others, and finally, a communal negotiation when individuals seek formal support via ASOs (AIDS service organizations), and/or informal support through family members and friends. The purpose of this research is to investigate these negotiations over the course of HIV infection, how these processes inform decisions to disclose, how stigma influences lived experiences, and the importance of the HIV community. The data come from eighteen HIV+ individuals, ten men and eight women, living in various locations throughout the Midwest. Drawing on the experiences of these men and women, I explore reactions after diagnosis, disclosure patterns, experiences of stigma, and the importance of the HIV community.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Anthony Jurich / The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in marital quality between full-time and bivocational pastors and their spouses in the Church of the Nazarene. While the denomination is a world-wide organization this study only considered clergy couples in the United States of America. The denomination has seventy-five districts in the United States. Originally, ten districts were randomly selected, however, due to a low response rate; five additional districts were purposely selected based on the availability of email addresses for the pastors. A mailing was sent to senior pastors and their spouses from the original ten districts. E-mails were sent to senior pastors and their spouses from all fifteen districts. A link was included in the e-mail that directed the individual to the K-State On-line Survey System. From the mail and the e-mail there were one hundred and ninety-nine responses. The survey included the following instruments: the Clergy Family Life Inventory, the Ministry Demand Inventory (Impact and Times), the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Reduced Sound Marital House. Qualitative questions were also asked according to the individuals’ position (i.e. Full-time Pastor, Full-time Pastor’s Spouse, Bivocational Pastor, Bivocational Pastor’s Spouse). There were six propositions developed for this study, these were: demands of the ministry have a negative effect on marital quality; intrusive congregational expectations have a negative effect on marital quality; the pastor’s own expectations for his/her work with the church will have an effect on his/her marital quality; financial stress will have an adverse effect on marital quality; marital quality is adversely affected when the spouse works outside of the home in order to meet the family budget; and, accepting the influence of his/her spouse has a positive affect on marital quality. Only the last proposition was confirmed. The findings suggest that there is no difference in marital quality between full-time and bivocational clergy couples. However, the reader most also consider the phenomena of social desirability in the context of this research.